It’s budget season and as it stands right now based on an initial proposed 2019 budget the City of Brandon is looking at a higher-than-inflation 3.91% tax increase on its side of the property tax bill.
Before council sits down later this month to make the hard decisions that will shape the final budget and arrive at the final tax numbers, the city is holding a public forum tonight from 7-9pm at City Hall to engage with you in helping to determine spending priorities.
A common beef with the budgeting process is that this type of public engagement is held on a cold weeknight in January and as a result a lot of folks may not have opportunity to take part. The City has made one step toward opening this up to a wider audience by promoting that tonight’s forum will be streamed live on its YouTube channel. Though it sounds like the online stream will be a 1-way thing and that your way to participate will be to make it out to City Hall tonight, at the least you’ll have one more way to stay in the loop on decisions being made on your behalf.
If you do want to provide feedback or ask questions but are unable to make it out tonight, there’s always the opportunity to connect with your councillor in the usual way through the info published on the city website.
The School Division for its part is scheduled to begin its budget process next month and will hold a public consultation in early March as it works toward determining its portion of your tax bill.